After Valve released Half-Life: Alyx in March of this year, hopes are growing to see another part of the popular shooter series. However, fans still have to wait for a Half-Life 3. For this, a product with the title »Half-Life 2 Remastered« appears in the Steam database.
So far it is not clear whether this is an official project by Valve or a mod from fans. The operators of the independent database SteamDB assume the latter.
Is Half-Life 2 Remastered "real"?
It wouldn't be entirely out of the question that Valve would release a remaster of one of their most popular and well-known games. Shortly before the release of Half-Life 2, a slightly pretted version of the first part called Half-Life: Source appeared.
According to the database entry, Steam is at least a review build for Windows, Linux and macOS in front. Judging by the description of the depot, it contains files not only from Half-Life 2, but also from Episode 1 and Episode 2. It is 17.27 GB in size, which is slightly less than the three titles mentioned together .
It is not uncommon. Because while Half-Life 2 and its episodes have to download all textures separately due to their stand-alone nature, a remaster could simply reuse the same files for the add-on content.
Would Valve allow a mod?
Even if the project was just a mod, it would be cannot be ruled out immediately that Valve allows this. However, the developer might request a renaming. Provided, of course, that it is not just a fake and the team behind the project also creates all assets and the like themselves.
The remake of Half-Life 1, published in 2020, called Black Mesa, was made in a similar way. The project was once known as Black Mesa: Source before it became one commercial project approved by Valve has been.
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Does Valve want to do another half-life at all?
Valve himself announced after the release of Half-Life Alyx that although »No firm plans yet« for the next part of the shooter series, but fans don't have to wait 13 years for it again. For them, the VR title Alyx was "not the end, but the beginning of new half-life games".
A new project is also dependent on the success of Half-Life: Alyx. As has become known since these statements, it sold really well for a VR shooter. According to the Road to VR website, the number of SteamVR users has increased by a million since its publication.
